Even an All Blacks victory over South Africa at Johannesburg next week might not be enough for coach Ian Foster to keep his job, according to writer and journalist Jamie Wall.
After the 26-10 defeat to the Springboks on Sunday (NZ time), Foster's All Blacks recorded their fifth defeat from their last six test matches, and have fallen to an all-time-low world ranking of fifth.
Hall said Foster's position is quickly becoming untenable at the helm of the All Blacks, and he angered supporters on Sunday by labelling the Springboks loss as the "best performance of the year".
On Friday, NZ Herald reported Foster has been asked to resign from his role should the All Blacks fail to win in South Africa, in order to save NZ Rugby from another costly payout following the sackings of assistant coaches John Plumtree and Brad Mooar after the series loss to Ireland.
But according to author Wall, Foster continuing as All Blacks coach seems unlikely, given the repeated failures of the side to uphold the team's previous long-standing success.
"The damage has been done," Wall told AM.
"I think even if he was to go on and go on a winning streak, people are still going to associate him - not just with losing All Black tests, not just with poor media relations which haven't entirely been his fault - but also the fact of how he got the job in the first place.
"That's a poor reflection on NZ Rugby and New Zealand rugby fans' relationship with our governing body.
"To be perfectly honest, it's doing more harm than good keeping him in there."
And if Foster has been tasked with victory in Johannesburg to save his job, the All Blacks' upcoming test against a South African side willing to rub salt into the wound is the hardest possible ask they could face.
At present, the All Blacks' worst losing run stands at five successive defeats, coming against Australia and South Africa in 1998.
But with Sunday's loss coming on top of three against Ireland and one against France in their last six games, the difficulty of facing the Springboks in their own backyard won't be an excuse for an All Blacks side close to a historic low.
"Normally, no, losing to South Africa in South Africa has been the one result which is acceptable - but not when you've lost four of your previous five tests.
"It just backs up what those results before have been telling us.
"Next weekend's only going to get harder for them. We'd then be looking at [six] losses, and that's completely unacceptable from an All Black point of view.
"It'd be historically, the worst ever period of All Black rugby."
To make matters worse, should Foster lose his job, the All Blacks have no obvious immediate replacement.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson looms as the ideal choice - according to All Blacks supporters - but has indicated he's reluctant to take the role so close to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Robertson has also hinted he could look offshore for his next role, stating his desire to coach abroad, with England reportedly interested in his services.
For Wall, current selector Joe Schmidt could be an option to take over, after forging a strong coaching resume with Ireland before the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
"If Foster was going to go, you'd bring in Joe Schmidt as a caretaker," he added. That's what they signalled by bringing him in in the first place.
"That plan has always been in place by NZ Rugby as a parachute. Probably say goodbye to any chance of Robertson coaching before the next World Cup.
"With his statements a couple of weeks ago, he's put a signal out to the RFU in England to write him a cheque.
"We'll be seeing some sort of developments on that over the next few months.
"I think it's too close to the World Cup now. I can't read his mind or anything, but if I were him, I wouldn't want to be inheriting someone else's mess."
Wall also pointed the finger at New Zealand Rugby's board, culpable in Foster's appointment after he beat Robertson to the job after Sir Steve Hansen vacated the All Blacks role after the 2019 World Cup.
"After they sack him, they should sack themselves. The whole board should be held accountable for this.
"[Chief executive] Mark Robinson's getting a lot of flack over this, but he wasn't the one that appointed him [Foster], it was the board that did it.
"This is an organisation that has a history of making poor decisions - and this is one of them."
